Torturing Fang
by cratermaker
Summary: An inside look on Fang's worst memory of the School. Fang keeps dreaming of his experiences at the School. Does it mean anything? It shouldn't, but what if it happens again? Rated T for violence and mild language. Not much, though. Enjoy! X3
1. Prologue: Dreams

**(A/N: Well, this is just something I had an idea of, and I just thought I'd run with it and see what happens.**

**If you like it, I can continue, otherwise, it will just be a oneshot into Fang's past. It depends on the kinds of reviews I get.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own MR.**

**Claimer: I own the idea. OWNIT!**

**Torturing Fang: Prologue**

**Dreams**

**Fang's Pov**

**Seven Years Old**

_A whitecoat had just taken me from my crate, leading me to a different room. I had turned around to look at the flock that I had come to recognize from my time here. Iggy was staring hard in the direction that the whitecoat was leading me, worry for me plastered on his face and in his sightless blue eyes. Nudge watched carefully, pressed against the back of her crate in silent fear. Max was as close to me as she could get, her skinny arms reaching through the bars in her cage to try and pull me back. All three of them were quiet._

_We pressed through several white hallways, through a set of swinging white doors, and finally turned into a white room. The whitecoat led me into it, locking the door behind him._

_In front of me was a wooden box with things sticking out of it. I didn't understand what they were at the time. The whitecoat walked me up to it and opened the door._

_My instincts kicked in then. I pressed into him, away from the box, but before I could get away from it, the whitecoat shoved me inside and slammed the door. I was suddenly surrounded by darkness._

_I hated the dark. And I hated tight spaces._

_Right then, I felt something sharp poke into my skin, and I jumped. Then a shockingly familiar scream filled the empty space around me. It was Iggy's_

_I clamped my hands over my ears, but as soon as his scream went away, another filled it's space, just as loud and terrified. Nudge._

_I began to shake, wanting to throw up. Then a third scream overlapped the second. It was filled with anger, pain, and something else that I'd never think I'd hear in that scream. Sheer terror._

_It was Max._

_Then the tears started to fall, hot tears, filled with anguish and confusion._

_I wiped my eyes on my arm, trying to stop crying. There was nothing worse that they could do to me than this._

_My eyes were clenched shut against the darkness that was pressing against me. If I couldn't see the darkness, then it wasn't real._

_Another needle poked into my arm, and a tremor of complete horror and misery racked my body. Then I heard them scream again._

_I don't know how long that went on; it could've been minutes, it could've been hours. All I knew was that once I started crying, I couldn't stop._

_I just wanted to curl into a ball and sob, but the frequent pressing of needles into my skin prevented that from happening. I just kept standing, shaking, and crying._

_The space around me was about the size of a small closet, and it was pitch black. My senses were on hyper aware because I had lost my sense of sight in the darkness, so the shock of the needles penetrating my skin was even more intense, and the volume of the Flock's screams was so much louder._

_Another needle hit me, followed by the most intense scream yet._

_My lips parted, and I let out a strangled cry that was horrible enough to curdle even my blood._

_I felt another needle and screamed again, this time mixed with a heavy sob._

_Then the torment stopped, and the door opened. I fell against the body that had opened the door (whitecoat, eraser, I didn't care) and sobbed quietly, gripping fistfulls of its shirt._

_Whoever it was picked me up and carried me away from that horrible closet._

_That was the worst experiment that I ever had tested on me, and they did it multiple times._

_By the time I got back to my crate, my sobs had quieted and my tears were gone._

_All that Max and the Flock ever saw of those experiments was the soft tremors of my shoulders after they put me back in my crate, my pallid skin, drenched in sweat, and tiny bruises the size of pinheads all over me._

**(A/N: Well, I don't really care if you don't like it or not, but go ahead and review anyway. Don't forget to tell me if you want me to continue with it. (And tell me _how_ you want me to continue it. Like, if it should stay as "seven-year-old Fang" or move to him being a teenager waking up from a nightmare.) Be creative. Give me ideas. And send me love! 83**


	2. Waking Up To the Rain

**(A/N: Wow! Look at all those reviews! And not even twenty-four hours after posting!**

**I have decided to continue the story, thanks to some constructive criticism from my reviewers.**

**Continue to review. You are as important to the story as the characters and I am.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR. Jimmy Patts does.**

**Claimer: I own this idea. OWNIT!!**

**Torturing Fang: Chapter One**

**Waking Up To the Rain**

**Fang's Pov**

**Fourteen Years Old**

I woke up to a clap of thunder, bolting upright and almost hitting my head on the cave ceiling. My hands scrabbled on the cave floor in a panic for something to grab onto before I realized where I was. I lifted my hand to my face, finding myself drenched in a cold sweat and shaking like a leaf.

I wanted to cry as I found those sick memories of my childhood flooding through me.

_Damn!_ I thought, trying to calm my thumping heart rate and erratic breathing. _I'd forgotten about that._

I stood as a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, lighting up the cave for a moment. Tracing my hand along the cave wall so I wouldn't hit my head, I made my way around the Flock to the mouth of the cave where Iggy sat on first watch. I sat down by him, and he tipped his head in my direction to acknowledge my presence. He didn't bring up my sudden awakening, and I didn't mention it either. Another clap of thunder rumbled through the sky, and rain broke through the turbulent clouds.

"Glad we're not out flying in this weather," Iggy mumbled quietly, tracing abstract patterns on the cave floor.

"Yeah," I responded half-heartedly, staring out into the night as the rain and wind battered against the trees. I closed my eyes against the dark night, listening to the soothing sound of the rain pouring down, letting it wash my most recent nightmare away.

I was nearly asleep when Iggy spoke up, softly, as if he wasn't sure if he should say something.

"You were crying in your sleep," was what he said, his words almost lost in the sound of rain beating against the cave. Another lightning bolt lit up the cave long enough for me to see Iggy staring at me with the same look of concern on his face as the Iggy in my dream. "What did you dream?" I remained silent for a while, my palms sweating terribly.

"I don't want to talk about it," I managed, though my throat was threatening to close up and send me into a panic attack. Thunder boomed loudly, emphasizing my statement.

"Then I won't bring it up again," Iggy said, looking away from my face. With that one statement, the discussion was closed, and my mind was put at ease for a while. I stayed there, though, taking comfort in the presence of the Flock around me.

"Do you want me to take second watch?" I offered, not able to go back to sleep like I wanted. Iggy shook his head.

"Nah, Max already called it," he said easily, despite the fact that he knew I wouldn't be able to sleep. "Speaking of which, it's almost her time." He stood up and walked directly to where Max lay, conked out on the cave floor with her head resting on her pack. He kicked the toe of her boot.

"Get up," he said, loud enough to wake her but not the others. Max stirred, sending up a death glare that was wasted on Iggy. "It's your watch." Then Iggy walked away and plopped down next to the Gasman. Max grunted in reply, yawning and getting up to sit beside me at the mouth of the cave.

She stared out into the rain, slowly waking up and becoming alert. Then something finally clicked in her brain, and she noticed my presence.

"What are you doing up?" Max asked, noticing that something was obviously wrong.

"The thunder woke me up," I said smoothly, allowing my impassive mask to settle on my face. Well, the thunder _had_ woken me up. She stared hard at me, trying to find any flaws in my gaze, but I perfected it. She sighed and looked away.

"You shouldn't keep these things bottled up, you know," she sighed, gazing into the storm.

"What things?" I breathed easily, almost as if I was telling the truth and not making lies to get Max off my back. Her gaze flickered to me again, and then she crossed her arms and scowled.

"I don't know," she huffed. "_Someone_ won't tell me." I let out a soft chuckle, allowing my mask to crack for a second and let a small grin break through. A faint blush graced her cheeks, and she looked away.

"Maybe because it's just nothing," I suggested, leaning forward as if to make my point. Max glanced at me again, gazing at me with those penetrating brown eyes of hers. A flash of lightning lit up both of our faces, making it hard for me to concentrate on drawing her away from the subject of my dream.

"Maybe..." Max murmured thoughtfully, chewing on her bottom lip. I leaned back against the cave wall, allowing my head to rest against the cool, gray rock. We fell into silence, and the only thing interrupting the quiet was the frequent claps of thunder.

With about ten minutes of pure silence, I allowed myself to fall asleep again, hoping that this time there would be no dreaming.

**(A/N: Well, there you have it; my first actual chapter of "Torturing Fang." -pauses to think- Why do we enjoy torturing Fang so much?**

**Fang: YES. _WHY_ DO YOU ENJOY TORTURING ME SO MUCH? -twitch-**

**Oh well. Review if you love me! 8D**


	3. Autopilot and Unwanted Memories

**(A/N: Ah. Yes. -inhales- I love the smell of reviews in the morning. **

**Let's continue, and I'll try to make the chapters longer. I'm working on it, okay? I like long chapters, too.**

**--_Crater_**

**Disclaimer: He owns it.**

**Claimer: OWNIT.**

**Torturing Fang: Chapter Two**

**Autopilot and Unwanted Memories**

**Fang's Pov**

"...et up..." I heard something like a fly buzzing in my ear and shifted positions on the cave floor. I became vaguely aware of someone prodding my side and clumsily tried to wave them away.

"...ng, get up..." The buzzing was louder that time. The poking resumed, and I unnoticeably cracked my eye open to find Max unsuccessfully trying to wake me.

"FANG, GET UP!!" she screeched. Oh... So _that_ was the buzzing I heard. I blinked my eyes open completely and sat up, giving Max a side glance of annoyance.

"I don't appreciate the poking," I grumbled, stifling a yawn. The sun glared into my eyes, reflecting off the raindrops left from the storm the night before.

"You wouldn't get up otherwise," she muttered, standing up. "We're getting ready to leave." I glanced around the camp to see everyone up and getting ready. Gazzy was just stomping out the fire, reducing the last glowing embers to nothing. I pushed myself off the ground and began rummaging in my pack for something to eat.

Cue Nudge in three, two, one...

"I'm hungry!" she whined, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. My hand closed around a granola bar, and I tossed it in her general direction without missing a beat. I found two more for Angel and Gasser and launched them into the air as well. The two caught their packaged breakfasts and tore into them. Angel broke off a piece of hers and fed it to Total who munched happily. I passed a bag of trail mix to Iggy, and Max and I shared the other.

As I tore into those disgusting little sun dried raisins, Iggy tossed Max the usual question.

"Where to now?" Just what I was thinking. Max remained silent, munching on peanuts.

"Voice got any ideas?" I offered with obvious distaste. Max scowled in my direction but stayed silent.

"He's been silent for a month. He probably doesn't have a clue," she growled. Almost silently she muttered, "And neither do I." I subconsciously groaned as I played out what would probably happen now. We'd aimlessly fly around the states a while, trying to find the next step to normalcy in our existence.

"Gee, maybe we should just fly around until Flyboys come and get us," Gazzy muttered with the perfect amount of dark sarcasm. I almost applauded him, smirking inwardly. Max rolled her eyes and popped an M&M into her mouth.

"Not on your life," Nudge began, pausing her demolition of the granola bar to go on a rant. "The Flyboys are all evil and stuff, and I'd like to take a break from fighting them for a while. Not to mention the fact that you and Iggy almost always set off a bomb whenever we fight them, always covering us in that yucky stuff that they call skin. It's all gross and stuff, kinda like yellow jell-o. Hee hee, yellow Jell-O; that rhymes! So does blue goo, and green spleen, and-- HEY!" Nudge fell silent, rubbing her head where a pebble had pegged her.

"Eat your granola bar, Nudge," I said, wiping the dirt from the stone on my gritty jeans. She obediently bit into the sticky granola and munched in silence.

_'How she ends up on strange subjects like Jell-O, I will never know.' _I thought to myself._ 'Oh, jeez, that rhymed, too.' _I rolled my eyes, and Max gave me a strange look. I shook my head, smiling softly. She shrugged and went back to picking out the M&M's from the bag.

"Leave me some," I said, nudging her. She looked at me like I was crazy and popped one into her mouth, still staring at me. A stifled smile graced her lips, and she hugged the bag to herself.

"My M&M's..." she said softly. She threw a handful of raisins at me. "You can have those." I stared at them, then picked one off the ground, blew the dirt off of it, and ate it.

"Fine. Be that way," I said, crossing my arms. She stared at me a while, still eating those little candy-coated chocolates, and finally broke down, handing me the bag.

"Fine..." Max sighed dramatically. "You can have some, I _guess_." I made a tiny happy noise and peeked into the bag.

"You didn't leave any," I stated bluntly, gazing impassively at the peanuts and raisins. Max smiled and patted my head.

"You'll get over it," she said. "Let's move out, guys. I don't want to be here when the Flyboys show up." Everyone stood and made the motions to leave. Angel grabbed Celeste and smoothed down her dirty fur. Gazzy pulled his backpack on and put something that he'd been fiddling with into his pocket. Probably another bomb. Max would be ticked if she found out, but I didn't plan on telling her.

Iggy scooped up Total and dumped him into the baby carrier that Mrs. Martinez had given to us the last time we visited them. Nudge helped Iggy make sure that Total wouldn't fall out and walked to the mouth of the cave, shaking her wings out. I stole a glance at Max as she stooped to re-tie the old laces in her combat boots before slinging my own heavy backpack onto my shoulders.

I suddenly had the most powerful urge to get into the sky. I bolted for the cave mouth, dodging Max as she stood. Nudge heard me coming and flattened herself against the cave wall.

When I reached the edge of the cliff we were on, I pushed off the rock and threw myself into the open sky. I free fell a few feet, then unfurled my dark wings, loving the feel of the sun on my feathers. For a moment, I forgot all about Itex and the School. All that was was the sky and my wings.

I looked to the cave, finding Max grinning and shaking her head. Angel leaped out after me, followed by Gazzy and Nudge. Max instructed Iggy on how far to go before jumping, and he was soon in the air with us. Max followed us and soon took the lead, taking us to wherever we needed to be. Wherever that was, I didn't know, and for a while, I didn't care.

* * *

**Fang's Pov**

I was soon flying on autopilot, barely aware of where we were going and what we were doing. I lost track of the time as my mind wandered back to the good old days. Back when Jab had taken us from the School and we lived in the E house.

That was back when I had forgotten how to worry, at least for a while. Whenever I had a nightmare, Jeb would come in. He somehow always knew how to tell during the night, and I would wake up with him sitting by my window. He'd look over at me and smile, telling me that I had a bad dream and that it wasn't real. Then he'd stay until I fell asleep again.

* * *

_**Fang's Pov- Ten Years Old**_

_I shot up in bed, tears streaming down my cheeks. I gripped the sheets in my fists, trying to remember where I was. I had dreamed about that **place** again. That personal hell that they'd invented for me. I wrapped my arms around myself, preparing to cry myself back to sleep as I had done the first nights that Jeb had brought us here._

_I let recognition flow through me. I was in my room in the house that Jeb had brought us to seven months ago. I was in my bed with the denim quilt and white sheets. Max was across the hall; Iggy was to my left. Jeb's room was next to me on my right, next to the wall that my bed was against. I pressed myself against it, imagining that he was in here with me._

_I felt someone else's weight on my bed and turned my head to meet my intruder, hurriedly wiping my eyes. Then I saw him, with his graying hair and his wire-rimmed glasses smiling warmly at me. I stopped trying to hide my tears when it registered who was in my room._

_He wrapped his arms around me, like I imagined a dad would do, and pulled me to his chest._

_"You had a bad dream, Fang," he said as my tears ruined his pajama shirt. He softly stroked my hair, and I clung tightly to him, a sign of weakness that I never showed. "It wasn't real; it was just a dream." If only he knew. If only he knew that my nightmares were fueled by the horrible psychiatric and physical torture that they put me through. I merely cried harder, and he stroked my hair and patted my back, babying me until I fell asleep again. I felt him kiss my forehead softly and rub my back tenderly._

_"No more nightmares," I heard him beg to no one in particular before tiptoeing out of my room and quietly closing the door behind him._

* * *

**Fang's Pov**

I blinked away tears, cursing myself for continuing to bring up all the memories that still dug holes in my aching heart. The dream that I'd had back then was the same as last night, just as vivid, just as painful and disorienting. I'd almost believed that I was still back there.

"Fang, you in there?" Max asked, waving a hand in front of my face. I blinked some more and tried to register where we were. I couldn't tell, but it was cold, and we were above a few restaurants ans grocery stores. They reminded me of how hungry I was; the tail mix from this morning was long gone.

"What?" I asked, still trying to phase back into reality.

"We're stopping to refuel. Any ideas?" Max was asking me? I had been out of it for God-knows-how-long, and she was asking me if I had any ideas?

"Nope," I said. How's that for an extensive vocabulary?

"Ooh!" Nudge squealed. I rolled my eyes. Here we go again... "A McDonald's! Can we go there, Max? Please? I want a big cheeseburger with a bunch of fries and--"

"Nudge!" Max growled, stopping the rant before we got back to Jell-O. I was thankful. "Fine, let's just stop there." Everyone began to spiral down, and we landed by some trees outside of the McDonald's.

I pulled in my wings and leaned against a tree. Max and the others made their transformation to normality, and we followed Max to go get some lunch.

**(A/N: That long enough for ya? I wrote this over the timespan of a few days, because I haven't been able to get on the computer that much. I'll try to keep a steady update coming, but I can't make promises. Reviews would be nice:3**


	4. Potential Danger Gone Sour

**(A/N: Thank you for all of your reviews, yadda yadda. Man, if spell-check doesn't catch that, I'll be shocked.**

**Well. I'm having little snippets of inspiration here and there, so I'm updating.**

**Okay, sorry for all of those who wanted Fax; it's not coming in this chapter. I'll try to throw some in in the later chapters, but right now, I just want to get to my favorite part.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it.**

**Claimer: OWNIT.**

**Torturing Fang: Chapter Three**

**Potential Danger Turning Sour**

**Fang's Pov**

I bit into my first cheeseburger, ignoring the taste of tomatoes. Beggars can't be choosers.

I allowed my mind to drift away while I ate, not really thinking about anything. I let my excellent hearing take in all the sounds around me.

I heard Gazzy snarfing down his burger and cringed slightly. Not a pleasant thing to hear; he was flying downwind for the rest of today _and_ tomorrow.

I vaguely listened to Angel and Nudge's conversation about ponies. I quickly tuned them out and listened to Iggy quietly tapping his fingers on his leg to the tune of a Boys Like Girls song as he ate. HeroHeroine, I thought it was.

Max was taking huge bites of her burger and chewing them thoughtfully, not really saying much. Frankly, I thought that the whole table was far too quiet (hello irony), but figured everyone was simply too hungry to talk.

I let my hearing travel away from the Flock and listened to the people around me. A group of three guys a few tables behind us were having a heated discussion about the last baseball game they had watched. I wasn't much of a baseball fan and let my ears travel elsewhere.

Two other ladies were talking about shopping. I didn't listen long.

Then I heard a guy muttering quietly on his cell phone. I wouldn't have paid it any mind, but the fact that he was talking in such a low tone kicked up my survival instincts.

I tried to listen closer, but I couldn't hear anything.

So I silently slid out my pocket knife, flicking out the blade but keeping it hidden.

I used it as a mirror and found the guy, three tables back, one over.

I found him strangely familiar, as if I'd seen him somewhere before. It was probably nothing, though.

He wore a brown trench coat, white t-shirt, and jeans. His hair was blond, short and spiked. He didn't look more than nineteen years old. If he was after us, he was probably a rookie.

The guy was pressed against the wall talking on his cell. His green eyes flickered to us every so often, then he'd go into another flurry of hushed talking. He appeared to be angry and insecure, as if he wasn't sure if he should even be here. Which brings me back to my rookie point.

My adrenaline spiked when I saw a bit of black metal glinting in his lap.

The kid had a gun, and he was after us. He had what looked like a walkie-talkie clipped to his belt, and when I looked closer, I found a sketch of me sitting on his table, half covered by a manila envelope. This guy was after _me_.

I finished my burger and reached for another, keeping up the casual act.

"Max," I said in a voice that only she could hear. She looked up from her burger, questions in her eyes.

"There's a guy with a gun," I muttered almost silently. The only other person who could've heard me was Iggy, and I could tell that he had. "He's three tables behind me and one over to your left. He's after us."

She didn't ask me how I knew. She nodded silently, continuing to stay calm, though I saw her grip on the burger tighten. She was scared, and I knew it.

I ran scenarios through my head and tried to analyze this person further. He didn't seem to be an eraser; he was too imperfect. Too much like a normal human, which made me horribly afraid for some reason. If the whitecoats had figured out how to disguise erasers better, then we were in deep crap.

Then I heard Max clear her throat.

"We've got to go, guys," she said, glancing at me for a moment. "I don't think this place is safe anymore." Instantly, the younger kids began searching the place for flyboys and erasers, but they found none. I stole another last glance at the guy, still trying to place him somewhere in my memory. I found nothing.

He was gathering his stuff, his cell phone put away. He slid the gun into the left pocket of his trench coat. With a darting glance around the room, he shoved the sketch of me into the envelope and stowed it away in his coat as well.

Max stood and led the kids and Ig to the door, pausing to chunk our trash. I brought up the rear, looking at the guy again, just to make sure.

As I expected, he stood after us, waiting for me to put some distance between him and the flock.

Maybe it was a bad thing that I was in the back.

I slid the knife into my pocket and followed the flock out of there. Once we were outside, the guy began to follow.

As soon as we passed the back of the McDonald's, the flock and I broke into a run. We ran for all we had, trying to make it to the clearing, praying that the guy didn't pull the gun.

Max leaped into the air, unfurling her wings and pumping to increase her altitude as quick as possible. She was followed by Angel and Gazzy, then by Nudge. Iggy was airborne soon after them, and all that was left was me.

I was a little behind the rest of the flock, still running for the clearing. Before I made it, I heard the crack of the gun, and immediate pain in my right leg afterward. My stride faltered for a second, but I soon corrected myself.

_Ignore it, _I chanted in my head. I felt blood soaking into my pants, but I kept running. There was another crack, followed with a similar pain in my upper left arm.

_Ignore! Ignore! _My mantra was almost lost in the blind pain of bullets lodged in my skin.

The clearing!

I unfurled my wings and threw myself into the air. A third shot pierced the air, hitting my right wing at the base. My immediate reaction was to pull my wing in, but I tried to keep it out so I could fly.

My flight pattern was becoming sloppy, and I felt dizzy from the loss of blood. It hurt every time I flapped, and I felt myself slowly losing altitude.

_Have I even reached Max yet_? I wondered vaguely. I was lightheaded, and I suddenly found it hard to remember to flap and breath at the same time.

I my wing beats gradually stopped coming. I remembered the sound of air rushing past my ears, the relief from not feeling the pain in my wing anymore, and someone calling for me.

_Max_ calling for me.

I was unconscious before I hit the ground.

**(A/N: I plan to update quickly. I have many ideas flowing, and I will try to update soon for all of those kind enough to read my story and try to make me a better writer. Keep up the support, and I'll keep up the updates.**

**Did I mention that this story has already surpassed my other stories in reviews per chapter??? It's amazing! Especially all the ones I got when I first posted the story. If I said it once, I'll say it again. THANK YOU!!**


	5. Welcome Back

**(A/N: This chapter was written while listening to "Broken Hearts Parade" by Good Charlotte. (Really good song. It just reminds me of Fang, y'know?)**

**Anyway. Thank you all for reviewing! I so appreciate it**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it, you know I don't.**

**Claimer: OWNIT.**

**Torturing Fang: ****Chapter Four**

**Welcome Back**

**Fang's Pov**

The first thing I felt when I regained consciousness was my head throbbing. It hurt so bad that I almost wanted to cry, but I knew that if I cried, Max would never let me live it down. I couldn't let a little thing like a headache get to me.

I lifted my left arm up to my face to wipe the sheet of sweat from my face, but a surge of pain shot through it. I couldn't stifle a cry of pain, curling away from the agony. I felt pain in my leg and wing as well. I opened my eyes, trying to get a look at my surroundings.

I felt like throwing up. I was in the back of a van, on a white sheet on the floor. The flock wasn't anywhere to be seen. I was all alone.

Everything that happened yesterday came flooding back to me, and I pressed my face into the sheet.

The van hit a bump, and I was jostled to the side. The pain of my bullet wounds hit me again, and I felt cold sweat run down my face and the back of my neck.

My mind was a jumble of confused thoughts trying to make sense. My head pounded even harder as I tried to figure out where I was going. I knew that the guy had taken me, but who was he working for?

I could almost give a positive guess: the School. I was almost sure of it, but some part of me hoped it was somewhere else.

I tried to formulate a plan in my head, but my common sense and I both knew that I wouldn't be going anywhere with these injuries.

Without even trying, I had resigned myself to defeat.

And when I knew no one would watch, I let myself cry.

* * *

**Fang's Pov**

The car came to a stop, and I braced myself for whatever may come. I listened to the front door open and slam, and to footsteps coming around the car to the back.

The trunk swung open, and the same blonde guy stared at me with those unnerving green eyes. I stared back, my face an impassive mask.

"You've gotten a lot older," he said quietly, reaching into the van and gently lifting me out. Well _that_ was unexpected. Maybe I _had_ seen him before.

I let him carry me away from the van towards the looming building ahead.

"You probably don't remember me," he said, staring at the school with numb eyes. "They took you away from our old room when you were four. You probably forgot about me, with all of those other friends to talk to." I stared up at him, confused. Little snippets of memories flickered in my mind as I scrutinized his face and eyes.

* * *

**_Fang's Pov- Four Years Old_**

_I pulled against the whitecoat's hand, reaching back for the blonde-haired boy in the crate next to mine._

_He pounded against the bars of his crate, screaming my name. His face was a mask of anger that I knew was directed at the whitecoat that took me from my crate._

_"Don't do this to him! He's just a kid!" he screamed, his eyes murderous._

_**scene change**_

_I reached through the bars of my crate towards the unconscious boy that the eraser had dumped in there. His eye was swelling shut, and I couldn't stop the tears that slipped through my eyelids._

_"Please don't die," I whimpered, unable to reach him._

**_scene change_**

_"Don't take him!" he wailed, tears streaming down his cheeks. It was the first time I'd seen him cry. "Don't take him away from me! Fang!"_

_I screamed, clawing and biting at the whitecoat's wrist._

_"Lemme go!!" I cried, but the whitecoat still managed to drag me away for the last time. I looked back to see another whitecoat taking my crate away._

* * *

**Fang's Pov**

I felt myself shake. I honestly never remembered that.

"Who are you?" I asked, my body tensing. The guy looked down at me and smiled a sad smile.

"You really don't remember?" he sighed, obviously disappointed. His expression then changed. "Fang, for anything that happens in here, I am really sorry for. I'd stop it if I could, but my hands are tied. Too much is at stake, and I can't save you."

I remained silent, and we entered that horrible building that I never wanted to go to again.

The School.

* * *

**Fang's Pov**

The guy carried me through hallway after hallway of continuous white, until we finally entered an open room filled with crates.

He opened the door of an empty one and gingerly put me inside. He spoke in a low voice as he re-did the lock on my crate.

"Fang, they've been doing some pretty crazy stuff here. It's not like it was before." He paused before continuing. "They're impressed with you, Fang. You're durable, so you'll find that many of the whitecoats here are interested in performing physical experiments on you. But that's not why you're here. They know that you can withstand physical torture and come out even stronger, so they're going to try a different angle. They want to do psycological experiments on you, Fang. You're mind is one of the most weak places that you have, Fang, beause that's where you hide everything. Your pain, your fear. You don't hide it on your face like most people. If they can crack your mind, then there is barely anything that they can't do to you." The guy gazed intensely into my eyes. "You'll see many things here, Fang. Things that will make you wonder what the heck they've done to you. Just please, above all things, remember this: You're the original. That's all I can say for now, but please, try to pull through. Do it for all the rest of us who want so bad to escape." With that, he turned and walked away, leaving me to try to digest everything that he said.

Welcome back to Hell.

* * *

**(A/N: Well, I hope this is long enough. I tried to make it long, but I think you'll be happy that I updated to fast. X3 R&R, my lovelies!!**


	6. Reliving From Another Place

**(A/N: Ohemgizzles. I'm so PSYCHED!! These reviews made me so ridiculously giddy!! W00t w00t!!**

**Anywho here's the new chapter!**

**I hope you guys know that you have made this fanfiction officially pwn all of my other fanfics. Who knew just a spur-of-the-moment story could be so successful? X3**

**Thank you for all of your love and support! It is all appreciated (probably more than it should be XD!), and I look forward to finding more reviews waiting for me after this chapter.**

**Thank you, lovelies! HAVE SOME COOKIES! -scatters the famous review cookies through the throng of readers-**

**Enjoy the next chapter of "Torturing Fang!"**

**--_Crater_**

**Disclaimer- Don't own it.**

**Claimer- OWNIT!! (That's my word, too. Fear it.)**

**Torturing Fang: Chapter Five**

**Reliving From Another Place**

**Fang's Pov**

I woke up with a start. The bullet wounds in my limbs and wings were killing me, and I felt a moment of panic before realizing where I was.

Once I confirmed my location, I permitted myself to panic.

The familiar scent of antiseptic washed over me, and I had to struggle to stifle the painful memories that were flickering to life behind my eyes.

_'What would Max do?' _I asked myself, closing my eyes. _'Observe your surroundings. Look for a way to escape.' _I opened my eyes and braved a glance around the room. There were several crates around me, no doubt containing experiments. A closer look revealed that most of them were winged.

My, these whitecoats were original!

I gazed across the aisle and nearly choked on the air I was breathing.

I saw myself, gazing back at me with the same hardened, impassive mask that I gained from the School.

I swear, it was like looking in a mirror. The kid had the same face, the same hair, the same scar above his eye. I had gotten that scar when I was five, taking a full grown eraser into my own hands and living to tell the tale.

The other kid finally looked away, gazing at the floor.

The door burst open, and a whitecoat slipped in, his head held high. His expensive shoes clacked noisily on the white floor. Two erasers followed behind, unmorphed and flawless. They stopped at a crate that I couldn't see, and I soon heard a ruckus kicked up by a young experiment.

"No!" the voice screamed, and I felt chills creep down my spine. It sounded horribly familiar. "No! You'll never take me! I'm not going back for any more experiments! No! Please!" My heart twisted in pain as the erasers dragged the small boy by my crate. I caught sight of his face and hair, and the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck rose.

There was no mistaking that shaggy, unkempt dark hair, those brown eyes, full of determination, that olive skin, drained pale from the lack of sunlight. I couldn't forget that angry voice, full of rebellion and fury with no where to go.

It was me at nine years old. I had seen this scene before. I had _lived_ this scene before, and I knew exactly where they were taking him.

I looked at my double across the aisle. His eyes were screwed shut, his mouth a firm line. His hands were clenched together until the knuckles turned white.

That's when I realized that I couldn't take it anymore.

"Don't do this!" I roared, throwing myself at the door of my crate. The metal of the bottom of my crate scraped along the shelf I was on a few inches, and all the eyes in the room locked on me. The whitecoat stared at me, his jaw set. He recognized me immediately, and a sneer crept onto his face.

"Why, _Fang_," he said, pretending to be surprised at my being in the same room as him. "Would you rather go through what's in store for him?" I felt fear flicker past my eyes, and he caught it, a creepy grin crawling across his face.

"If it prevents him from having to go through it, then yes," I said, willing my voice to come out strong and unwavering. The whitecoat's grin grew larger and meaner.

"Well then, take him, too," he hissed, leaning down to my face.

_'Crap it,'_ I thought, feeling like the worst idiot ever. _'Now not only does he have to go through this, but now I do, too!' _One of the erasers yanked my door open and dragged me out of the crate. My arm banged against the opening, and I hissed in pain, biting my tongue so hard I drew blood.

I caught the look on the younger me's face: pure shock at what I had done.

His face was the depiction of what I was thinking.

* * *

**Fang's Pov**

I ached, being in that room again. My eyes involuntarily flickered around. This was probably the only room in the School that wasn't white.

The walls were painted bold green, blue, red, and yellow, and the carpet was orange. There was an oak wood desk in the center of the room with a chair behind it and two in front. It had colorful objects on it, most of which were meant to stimulate the mind.

Those words sent a shiver down my spine. The thought of the School's attempt at child development made me want to hurl. It wasn't any closer to sharpening a child's mind than pushing him against a wall and beating him with a baseball bat.

I shifted my hands behind me, the metal of the reinforced handcuffs scraping roughly against my wrist. The boy beside me was in a similar situation, having his wrists cuffed in the front. An eraser pushed me into a chair, doing the same to the younger boy. Before they left the room, they clamped our feet to the legs of the chair with metal restraints.

I began to hyperventilate, my eyes unfocusing as I tried to block out the memories of this room.

* * *

**_Fang's Pov- Nine years old_**

_I stared around the room in awe. I'd never seen a place so bright and cheery. The whitecoat sat in the chair across from me and looked at me over the desk._

_He smiled at me pleasantly, and I almost smiled back. Almost._

_"Alright, Fang," he said in a too-nice voice. "I'm going to ask you some questions, and I want you to answer them as honestly as possible. Okay?" I remained silent and didn't move, silently afraid. "Let's begin." He pushed the 'record' button on a tape recorder. "Fang, how do you feel about the School?"_

_'That it's the lowest ring of hell, and that I want to get out!' I thought to myself. I kept my mouth clamped shut. The whitecoat smiled and continued._

_"Have you made any friends?" he asked conversationally. I didn't reply. His face seemed to twitch a little, and his smile appeared a bit forced now._

_"What do you really hate?" he asked me. I screwed my eyes shut and tried to block out the possible responses. I heard silence for a few minutes. When I tentatively opened my eyes, I wished I hadn't. His face was red and furious._

_"Why won't you work with me, dammit?!" he roared. His mouth curled into an evil grin, and he said, "Bring in Xavier!" My stomach coiled at that name, but I couldn't place my finger on why._

_An unmorphed eraser burst through the door, dragging a struggling blond teen behind him. I felt my heart sink into the lowest pit in my belly. The boy's green eyes flickered to me, and I saw recognition grace his face. He knew me._

_The eraser looked to the whitecoat, and he nodded, as if in approval. The eraser __morphed before my very eyes and grinned a wolfish grin._

_He slammed the boy against the wall, holding him up by his neck. The boy's feet dangled off the ground, and the eraser pulled out a knife. He called another eraser over to pull down the boy's collar, and he began to carve something into his skin by his collar bone._

_"This is so you'll always know who did this to you," he said, his voice gravelly. The boy's eyes were clamped shut, not wanting to go through this. The eraser finished what he was carving and put the switchblade away. His grin became even more sinister, and he let his fist ram into the boy's face. Over and over again, his face was battered with the eraser's hairy fist._

_I once tried to shut my eyes, but the whitecoat smacked me, forcing me to keep my eyes open and watch._

_When the eraser was finished, he let the blond drop to the floor. He landed on the carpet in a crumpled heap, and I was afraid he was dead._

_"Maybe now you'll answer some questions?" the whitecoat said. My face was a mask of horror, and I nodded helplessly._

* * *

**Fang's Pov**

I gripped my hands into tight fists, shaking. The whitecoat seated himself behind the desk and took the pose of the kind doctor. I shut my eyes and heard the whitecoat's horrible voice begin to soothingly talk to the boy.

"Alright, Claw, I'm going to ask you some questions, and I want you to answer them as honestly as possible. Okay?"

Silence.

"Let's begin." The click of a button. "Claw, how do you feel about the School?"

Silence.

"Have you made any friends?"

Silence.

I blocked out the rest, until I heard: "Take Fang!" A morphed eraser came in and released me from my restraints. He picked me up be the front of my shirt collar, slamming me against the wall. He pulled out a switchblade, and I screwed my eyes shut.

"This is so you'll always know who did this to you," he said, pressing the blade into the skin on my collar bone. A word was carved into my flesh and began to bleed.

I felt the blade leave my skin, then the contact of skin on skin. My head snapped to the side, and I tasted blood in my mouth.

Another blow to the same cheek.

More blood.

I was dizzy and struggling to breathe.

Another blow.

I opened my eyes.

The boy was trying not to cry.

One more blow.

Blackness.

* * *

**(A/N: WOOT!! I have updated. Be happeh! REVIEW AND BE JOYFUL!! -dances- I like this chapter. It's where Fang is beginning to remember things that have been blocked from his memory.**

**Fang: And getting the crap beat out of me against my will. -spits blood in my direction-**

**FANG! -scolds. Anywho, review, lovelies:3)**


	7. Mirrored and Lost

**(A/N: -bounces up and down excitedly- REVIEWS!! -huge grin- -glomps- I LOVE YOU ALL!! -dances-**

**Apparently, this story is a hit. That makes me happy.**

**But I don't WANNA capitalize Eraser... They aren't worthy of being in caps. But if it will make you happy, I _guess_ I can handle pushing the shift button a few times... -sulks-**

**Anywho, keep it up, readers! You make me want to write more!**

**Disclaimer- don't own it.**

**Claimer- OWNIT!**

**Torturing Fang: Chapter Six**

**Mirrored and Lost**

**Fang's Pov**

I felt the wave of pain before anything else. My face felt like it was trying to burst out of my skin. I tried to clutch my head and curl up, but pain pierced my gut. A blinding flash of pain surged through me as soon as I touched my face, and I screamed.

I couldn't reason myself into calming down. All I knew and felt was pain, and I wanted it to stop desperately.

I felt someone pry open my mouth, which hurt also, and force pills in.

I tried to spit them out, but my body wasn't responding correctly. Someone rubbed my throat, and I swallowed without time to resist.

Sound began to break into my thoughts, and I realized that my screams were still ripping through the air.

"Fang, calm down," a soothing voice said, placing something cold on my bruised face. I tried to forced my teeth together to stifle my cries of pain, and I sucked in clear air, choking on the antiseptic smell.

The pain began to dull until it was an uncomfortable ache, and I tasted blood in my mouth.

I had bitten my tongue.

I began to feel things other than pain. I registered a cold, metal table underneath me. A bag of ice was cradling my damaged face, and a damp cloth was scrubbing gently at my collar bone.

I reached my hand up to the cloth and found a hand. The cloth stopped moving. I traced my fingers to the wrist and gripped it weakly. My eyes opened with a bit of effort, and the consistent white glared brightly into them.

I found the face of the blond staring at me; he looked like he was going to be sick, cry, or both. He appeared to refrain from grabbing me into a massive hug laced with relief.

"Fang," he said, his voice shaking. "I'm so sorry. I never wanted that to happen to you." That triggered something in my memory. I had to ask him something.

"Will you show me your collar bone?" I asked, my voice raw from screaming. "On the left side?" His face turned even paler, and he looked pained. After a moment, though, he reached up and pulled his shirt collar down.

I choked out a gasp at what I saw.

Healed over in scar tissue, carved into his pale skin many years ago was the word: "_Fang_."

I looked at his face, and he looked ashamed.

"Are you remembering who I am?" he asked me in a quiet voice. I gave a timid nod.

"I think I remember your name..." I said, concentrating hard. I paused, then rasped out the name. "Xavier?"

His head snapped up, and his green eyes locked onto mine. I knew in an instant that I was right.

The question was: Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

"You are," he murmured, the edges of his mouth pulling into a faint smile for the first time.

Well, I guess to him it was a good thing.

* * *

**Fang's Pov**

I soon attempted to sit up, deciding to ask Xavier a few more questions.

"You're an experiment, too, right?" I asked, wincing at the pain of moving my facial muscles. He looked at me, his spiked hair casting shadows over his face.

"Yeah. They treated me as one, too, until you and the other avian kids escaped with Batchelder." He spat out the name like it was dirt. "Then they began to train me like the Erasers. To them, I was better than the dog boys. I was capable of higher reasoning and logic. It was easier for me to blend in with society. I was their secret weapon."

I felt my brow furrow. I had to ask.

"What were you meant to do?" I whispered. Xavier closed his eyes and turned away, busying himself with a piece of lab equipment.

"To bring you back," he said, his voice laced with regret. "To be truthful, I never wanted to do it, but they threatened to kill all of the other experiments brutally if I didn't." I shook my head.

"So your hands really are tied," I murmured, gripping the edge of the metal table. I tried to change the subject. "What hybrid are you?" Xavier looked at me and flashed me a grin.

"Now, you wouldn't truly remember me if I gave you all the answers, would you?" he said, his eyes shining with a child-like quality. I sighed and chewed on the inside of my cheek, clutching the table tighter until I was white-knuckled.

"You're not making this easy," I mumbled. Xavier blinked apologetically.

"I know," he said, "but you won't remember me correctly if I tell you everything. I need you to remember me the right way." I nodded curtly, wincing at the vague pain it caused.

"What about that kid?" I asked. "Why does he look like me?" I had a few theories of my own, but I wanted a straight answer. Xavier stared hard at me for a second before responding.

"Remember how I told you how impressed they were with you, Fang?" he asked softly. I nodded, goosebumps rising on my arms. "Well, they wanted to see what would happen if different things happened to you. But, of course, they couldn't use you; you've been impossible to capture for a while now. So, they made clones. None of them have come out right, though.That kid you saw, Claw, is supposed to be the same age as you. Instead, he's been raised from infancy, just like you were."

"When did they make him?" I whispered hoarsely.

"They cloned you for the first time when you were three," Xavier muttered, turning back to the lab equipment and scrubbing blood off a scalpel. "That's how long he's been alive." I tried to get my mind around these concepts, never loosening my grip on the table. I finally managed to get another question out, though I probably should've been content with my answers so far.

"And the boy that sits across from me? What about him?" I asked, my voice shaking. Xavier dropped the scalpel and hissed in pain. I looked up to see blood running down his hand. He grabbed a towel and wrapped his hand in it, keeping pressure on it. His voice was quiet and guarded when he spoke.

"You will probably learn more about Shade as we go along," he said, so softly that I could barely hear it, "but I can't tell you about him now. He's... Not quite stable, so it's best that you don't put yourself in the position to get too far down his bad side. He's probably had it worse than anybody in the room you're staying in. Maybe even you."

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I sat rigid, turning to stone.

If he had it worse than me, then there was no telling how far gone he was. He might be past the level of saving. My heart ached, but my face was set like stone, and an unnerving silence settled upon the room.

Xavier suggested that he take me back to my crate, and I agreed with a swift nod of my head.

He led me back to the room that held the experiments, and I obediently got in my cage. He ruffled my hair gently and shut the door.

"Stay sane, 'kay, Fang?" Xavier whispered, cracking a small grin before leaving to have his hand checked out.

I traced my hands along the bars of my crate for a few minutes, trying to busy myself and not think of what they might do to me next.

My eyes left the bars for a moment and glanced at the crate across the aisle. They were met with a pair of disturbed brown eyes.

I saw something else in the eyes that I hadn't noticed before.

I could possibly have passed for relief, but my eyes could have been playing tricks on me again.

Shade clenched and unclenched his fists before peeling his mouth open, his lips chapped and unused.

"I didn't think you'd come back," he said, his voice rough and shaky, as if he hadn't talked in a really long while. He probably hadn't. "I heard you screaming, and I thought they were killing you." My heart twisted in pain, and I gripped my crate's bars, pulling myself closer to the door.

"No," I said softly but firmly. "They can't get rid of me that easily. I can't die yet. I need to get out of here." A shadow passed over the boy's face, a shadow of despair.

"I've tried," he murmured. "It's impossible. This isn't the same as the old School. The experiments are kept in the center, so the outside is further away." I nodded vaguely.

Then something clicked.

"We're not at the old School?" I asked, sweat forming on my bruised forehead. Shade shook his head. I felt the room begin to spin. "That means that Max and the Flock can't find me..." I whispered in a panic, scuffling to the back of my crate. I felt my heart rate quicken, and my breath became short and choppy. I was having a panic attack, and I knew it. My pupils began to dilate, and my vision got hazy around the edges. "Max! Get me out of here!" I whimpered before slumping against the cold metal of my crate into darkness.

* * *

**(A/N: Yay! You finally get some slight insight to the clones!**

**And what's so mysterious about Shade? Why is it so bad to get on his bad side? And why was he so relieved to find that Fang was alive?**

**Well, review to motivate me to write, and you might just find out:3 Love you all!**


	8. Way Worse Than Lost

**(A/N: Yo, people!! I'm sorry it's taken me such a long time to update. I've been freaking busy, what with _Grease_ and all. We pretty much sold out every night, so we're holding over to next Monday and Tuesday. I'm way wiped, and I haven't been on the computer in such a long time. I bet my Yahoo Inbox is bulging. XP**

**Anywho, I'll try to update faster, but I can't make promises. I've had ideas for this chapter, but I've been caught up in a lot of stuff lately, so I haven't had time to give it much thought.**

**Xavier: Raise your hand if you're pissed off at Crater for making you wait!!**

**SHUT UP BEFORE I KILL YOU OFF!**

**Xavier: -silence-**

**Finally. Well, here goes. One chapter for the lovely reviewers, coming right up! (BTW, thanks for all of the reviews! I'm going for at least forty this time, please! WOOT!!)**

**Torturing Fang: Chapter Seven**

**Way Worse Than Lost**

**Fang's Pov**

I was going to have to get the passing out thing under control. I opened my eyes to the ruckus happening in front of Shade's cage.

"Hold him down!"

"We need more Erasers down here, stat!"

"Don't let him go; he'll try to run again!"

"Be gentle! I don't want to have to use our funds to keep him from dying again!"

All of these things came from the lips of several whitecoats that rushed back and forth down the aisle that separated my crate from Shade's. I saw three Erasers trying to hold him down, but he struggled constantly. His eyes burned with an intense anger, and his face, twisted with rage, dared anyone to deny him the escape that he so longed for. He managed to lift himself _and_ the three Erasers on top of him off the ground, thrashing his newly freed arms about fiercely. Two more Erasers came running down the aisle and grabbed his arms just as he knocked one of the three others unconscious. They lifted him up to where his feet no longer touched the ground, and he kicked at the two Erasers that stood in front of him. They dodged his legs and caught hold of them, gripping them tightly. A whitecoat came to Shade's head and tied a gag around his mouth, probably to prevent him from biting anyone.

Shade thrashed about, but he couldn't escape. His head turned and searched for me in a last, desperate attempt to escape. His eyes were wild with terror, and he silently pleaded with me for help. I wanted to help him so bad, but it was clear that I could do nothing.

Shade slowly stopped struggling, and they carried him out of the room.

When the room was clear, the doors opened again, and Xavier strolled in.

"Where did they take him?!" I cried, my heart pounding uncomfortably hard. As I expected, Xavier hesitated before answering.

"They took him to get his antidote," he stated. Yeah, right. As if I was supposed to know what that meant!

"And that means?..." I said through gritted teeth, willing him to continue.

"They took him to be vaccinated with an injection that nullifies his powers," Xavier said. He said it so calmly that you would've thought our conversation was about the weather.

"Why?" I asked, gesturing to my lock, to see if he would let my out today. He reached for his key ring and began flipping through the bronze and silver colored metal pieces.

"Because he's too powerful and they don't want him to escape," he replied simply.

"Oh," I sighed. Xavier tried a key, and my lock popped open. He held the door open and let my climb out, subtly examining my bruised face.

It felt good to stretch my legs, and he led me through the halls in silence, letting me walk freely. I eventually broke the silence with a quiet, despaired question.

"We're not at the old School, are we?" I asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.

"Nope," Xavier said, shaking his head. "The old School had all different hybrids. This one just deals with the avian hybrids." I gripped the hems of my large School shirt. The Flock wouldn't know that. They wouldn't have a clue.

"So I'm pretty much just stuck," I mumbled. "No hope?" Xavier shook his head.

"None," he said easily, though his face pleaded with anyone that there was.

_'Max wouldn't give up this easily!' _something inside me cried. Of course, Max had never had it this bad. With Max, there was always a plan. If she wasn't there, then things only turned out suckish.

I'd definitely say this qualified as a suckish time.

* * *

**Max's Pov**

Fang had been gone for a total of four days. I'd definitely say that losing him had thrown the Flock against the wall. It hit us all like a ton of freaking bricks.

Each one of us dealt with it in our own way. Angel distracted herself with Total and seemed to make up even more games and stories. She tried her best to stay away from the gloom.

The Gasman took up drawing to vent his pain. Every chance he got, he'd pull out his old composition notebook filled with bomb plans and start sketching things we had seen that day. For an eight-year-old, he was pretty good.

Nudge stopped talking so much and spent more time trying to pinpoint Fang's location on the laptop. She wasn't getting any closer than when she first started searching.

Iggy quit making bombs. He became more and more reclusive, barely speaking at all. His eyes always had a fog of sadness in them. Sometimes I'd wake up at night while he was on watch and find him singing softly. I'd always let his voice put me back to sleep.

As for me, I barely held it together. Every night after putting the Flock to bed, I would cry to myself. Iggy got into the habit of waiting until I started to cry and getting up so I could cry into his shirt until I calmed down. Only he saw me break down, but I knew that everyone sensed the hopelessness of the situation.

The thing was, we'd already been to the School in Death Valley. It was just charred wood and ash.

We had no clue where Fang would possibly be, and it was slowly tearing each of us apart.

* * *

**(A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed this chappie! Remember, people! 40 reviews!**

**I'm sorry if it's a little short. I've been really tired lately, so this is all I could come up with.**

**Luff you all!**

**--_Crater_**


	9. More of Them?

**A/N: Wow! Look at all of those reviews! You guys make me really happy, you know that:3**

**Kara: Wow. You act just like I do when I really like someone's fanfiction and they don't update. X3 And I'm pretty sure they'll come get him. He has to escape, you know?**

**Aurora: I know it was short. I'm working on making them longer, but I have to get back into the hang of this. So you have a soft spot for Fang, yet you want him in peril? Wow. What a mind. X3**

**Thanks to everyone else for reviewing. Keep it up. Even if you just want to say "great story" but think it's too short, do it anyway! I want more reviews:(**

**I love you all soooooo much:)**

**Now on to chapter eight!!**

**Disclaimer: Oops, forgot this in the last chap. Anyway, here it is.**

**Claimer: It's mine. Don't take without asking. **

**Torturing Fang: Chapter Eight**

**More of Them?**

**Fang's Pov**

I sighed and let my head hang as Xavier and I continued to pace the white corridors of the School. I'm normally not one to give up, but even I know when I'm far too outnumbered to try.

I saw Xavier steal a glance at me and tap his fingers against his pocket anxiously.

"You're desperate to get out, aren't you?" he asked me, averting his gaze. I gave him the 'Are you kidding?!' look.

"Duh," I muttered. "I hate this place, more than you could ever imagine." Xavier nodded. I could've sworn I detected a hint of disappointment in his voice. "Why? Did you think I'd just accept the School with open arms or something?" He shook his head, and I was lost.

"I just missed you," he muttered, bringing his eyes up to stare hard down the halls. "It just hurts to think that you're willing to escape to be with _them_ no matter what, when I was the one who protected you for so long." I stared at him. Why didn't he like the flock?

"I don't understand..." I whispered, shaking my head softly. His voice got a hard edge.

"They took you away from me, and yet you still would pick them over me any day," Xavier growled.

"Because I actually have memories with them," I shot back. "I know them like the back of my hand."

"You have memories with me, too, you know!" he said, struggling to keep his voice low.

"Yes, but they aren't pleasant," I countered. "Every memory I have of you is in the School, and I hated being here!" Xavier fell silent, and I knew I'd hit a nerve.

"Maybe it's time we got you back to your crate," he said sharply, turning around. I followed him, knowing only he knew the way back to the room where I was kept.

* * *

**Fang's Pov**

The room was chaos when we got back. I wondered what had happened when someone ran into me. It was a boy of my age with white hair and near white eyes. His skin was pale, and Xavier grabbed him.

"What's going on, Rex?" he barked, holding the boy by the front of his School nightgown.

"The cages all opened!" he choked out. "We're getting out!" Xavier's eyes widened. He opened his mouth to reply, but Rex cut him off.

"We'll explain later, but right now we have to get out! They're sending Erasers to catch us, but you can get us out, Xavier! You know the way out!" Xavier paused and finally nodded. The boy named Rex grinned.

"Excellent! Grab Lyric, Shade, and Claw, and let's blow this joint!" he cheered. We found Shade unconscious at the door of his crate, and Xavier scooped him up, carrying him on his back. I snatched Claw up from the fray as we ran for the door on the other side of the room, and Rex grabbed some girl by the wrist and pulled her along with him. She had hair the same color as mine and dark eyes. I could only assume that this was Lyric, but there was no time for formalities. Xavier led us through corridor after corridor of endless white, and we miraculously never ran into any whitecoats or Erasers.

We finally burst through a set of double doors that met us with fresh, crisp air. I saw snow falling around us but couldn't feel the cold. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, and I leaped into the air, unfurling my dark wings. I held tight to Claw who showed no intentions of letting go. I heard the sounds of three more sets of wings unfurling, and we were soon booking it, heading away from that hell hole they had the audacity to call a School.

Claw held tight to my neck, and I kept support on him from his back and bottom. He was surprisingly light. When we were a good few miles away from the School, Xavier spoke up.

"What the hell happened?" he growled, and I looked at him for the first time since we were airborne.

And I'm sure you've guessed by now that Xavier has wings, too.

I was met with the sight of beautiful russet wings. A flurry of memories came with those wings, but I ignored them for now.

"It was Shade! He got away! The time limit for his last dosage of medication ran out, and he got away from the whitecoats and ran back to the room. He waited for them to come back and unleashed a wave of immense energy as soon as they entered. He collapsed, and the whitecoats and Erasers were vaporized, but all of our crates were open. He saved us!" Rex was practically doing a happy dance in mid-air as he spoke.

Xavier shook his head.

"Idiot!" he muttered, holding tighter to Shade. "He could've gotten himself killed." I was clueless, so I just listened. The girl broke in.

"He did it for us, Xay!" she cried, her face set stubbornly. She reminded me of Max. That made my heart hurt. Rex looked up at me and gave me a questioning glance. That confused me. He looked away quickly and stared at the sky.

Snowflakes fell softly. I'm telling you, if you've never seen real snow fall, you have absolutely no idea how beautiful it is. I'm not talking about the crap that they show in movies. I mean real snow. It's enough to take your breath away.

"I don't care who he did it for!" Xavier said, his face turning red. "He could have killed more than just whitecoats and Erasers." Claw gripped my neck tighter, and I rubbed his back.

"Well I didn't..." a voice croaked. All heads turned to the lump on Xavier's back, and Shade struggled to lift his head up.

"Shade! You're okay!" Rex cried joyfully. His mouth spread into a large grin, and Shade gave an awkward smile in return. I could tell he wasn't used to it.

"Let me fly, Xay," Shade mumbled, struggling in Xavier's grip. Xavier shook his head.

"I'm not going to have you dropping out of the sky, Shay," he said. Shade huffed in annoyance. He fell silent, and I thought he was asleep for a while.

Eventually, some few hours later, Claw conked out in my arms, becoming slightly heavier, and I felt my joints starting to get tired. My eyes were heavy, and Rex spoke up, his voice sounding exhausted.

"Xavier, everyone's tired. Let's stop, okay?" Xavier nodded, and we began our descent into a snow covered field.

If I couldn't feel the cold when we were escaping, I could sure feel it now. Claw shivered in his sleep, and Lyric rubbed her arms. The only one of us in normal clothes was Xavier.

"We need rest. _And_ clothes and supplies," he murmured to himself. "How could I be so stupid?" I touched his arm, and he snapped out of it. "Sorry," he muttered. I nodded. I looked around, seeing a barn a few hundred yards away.

"How about over there?" I asked, gesturing to the barn. Rex shrugged, and Lyric said, "Why not?" Xavier nodded in agreement, and we plodded through the snow in our bare feet.

* * *

**Fang's Pov**

Rex and I pulled the door of the barn open, and we were met with a gust of warm air and the smell of animals. We hurried in and shut the door.

Lyric looked around and spotted the loft.

"Let's sleep up there," she said. I unfurled my wings, getting a startled reaction from the livestock, and floated into the loft. I dropped into a pile of hay.

"Looks good to me, guys," I said, and I was soon followed by the others. Rex flopped into the hay and took a deep breath.

"It smells so good," he drawled, his voice laced with drowsiness. Xavier gently set Shade close to the wall, and Lyric sat down beside Rex. I put Claw down next to me, and he shifted around quietly before falling into deeper sleep.

I glanced over at Rex and Lyric.

"Maybe it's time for introductions?" I suggested. Rex nodded.

"I'll go first," he stated. "My name is Rex, I am fourteen years old, and I love to sing and make the Erasers want to scream with my horrible voice!"

_'Well,'_ I thought to myself, _'isn't that nice?'_

"I'm Fang," I said. "Fourteen."

"My name is Lyric," said the girl. "I'm fourteen, too, and I like to fight. That's pretty much it." I nodded. I wasn't surprised that there were other winged kids from the School.

* * *

**Fang's Pov**

I shouldn't have been surprised at what Xavier told me after everyone was asleep, either, but I was anyway.

"They're your clones, too, Fang," he said in a low voice. I'm pretty sure my eyes bugged out of my head.

"B-but Rex has different hair, skin, and eyes!" I whispered frantically. "And Lyric's a girl!" Xavier shrugged.

"I told you the whitecoats screwed up on most of 'em," he sighed.

**

* * *

(A/N: Well, I hope you all enjoyed that as much as I did. Now, surely this isn't the end of the old School, now is it?**

**Rex: 'Course not.**

**Right; and we still need to find out what's up with Shade. Now the question is, do Max and the Flock run into them?**

**And I'm probably going to kill off a character (OC) eventually. Let me know who you want, but I refuse to kill of Shade. Or Xavier. They're vital to the story.**

**Review, lovelies! Love you all!**

**--_ Crater_**


	10. Connected

**(A/N: GAHLEE!! Look at all those reviews!!**

**CrimsonScarz: You would be correct! I trust you meant Rex and not Xavier.**

**And I see we have some new reviewers; welcome to Torturing Fang. I hope you enjoy our next segment. XD**

**_Lyric: Good grief, you're an idiot..._**

**_Xavier: I second that._**

**_Rex: -holds up three fingers-_**

**-fumes- SILENCE! Don't make me burn your files. You will all die.**

**_ALL: Crap. -quiet-ness-_**

**That's cool. Now on to the story:3**

**--_Crater_**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it.**

**Claimer: OWNIT**

**Torturing Fang: Chapter Nine**

**Connected**

**Fang's Pov**

I opened my eyes to sunlight filtering in through a dust-covered barn window. I sat up and picked a few pieces of straw from my hair. My stomach growled ferociously, and I grimaced. I hadn't eaten for at least twenty-four hours.

I swept my gaze over the make-shift Flock I had escaped with, finding all but Xavier and Rex asleep. They were sitting by the window talking quietly.

"...back in a little while, but while I'm gone, you're in charge," Xavier was saying. In a lower voice he added, "Remember to keep Fang and Shade apart. No physical contact at all." Rex nodded rubbing his arms. He glanced over at me and informed Xavier that I was awake.

"Where are you going?" I asked quietly, my face a mask of disapproval. Xavier patted my head, probably thinking I hadn't heard their conversation.

"I'm going to the town near here. We need food, and you guys need clothes," he said, and I couldn't argue with his logic.

"How do you know what size clothes we wear?" I asked.

"I'm a good judge of size," he replied, giving me and up-and-down look.

"I like black," I mumbled, resting my head on my arms sleepily. Xavier chuckled softly.

"I'll make sure I get something suiting to your character," he said. With that he jumped from the loft and walked out the door, into broad daylight.

"Be careful," Rex called after him. I looked up at him, and he gave me an easygoing smile. I stared at him for a minute, thinking hard before coming to a conclusion.

_'There is no freaking way he has my DNA,'_ I decided. Rex's lips twitched in a grin, and he looked away. My eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" I asked. He shook his head. I growled, my eyes narrowing. "No, see, when I ask a question, you answer, got it?" He looked at me, trying not to laugh at the expression on my face. Apparently this guy wasn't afraid of death.

"What's got your panties in a twist?" he asked, giving me a crooked grin. "Wake up on the wrong side of the haystack?" He cracked up at that, leaning back into the straw.

"Don't change the subject," I said. "What were you grinning at?" Rex looked at me seriously for a moment, sighed, and responded.

"What you thought amused me, that's all," he said, looking away.

Okay, warning alarms going of right about... Now.

"_You can read minds_?!" I seethed. That was all I needed: another Angel. Rex shook his head.

"Nah, not very strongly. I can only catch snippets of things that people think about hard," he said, as if it wasn't strange. "I can read emotions pretty well, though."

_'Well snap!' _I thought. _'He's a regular empath, then.'_ I must not have thought too hard about that, because Rex didn't respond.

"So you're pretty much an empath?" I suggested. He nodded.

"Exactly," he said simply.

"What about Lyric?" I asked. "Anything out of the ordinary I should know about her?" Rex tapped his finger against his chin, thinking.

"Well, she's colorblind, she hates bologna, and she could whip your ass in five minutes flat." Rex looked at me to see if that was good enough. "Unless she's got something hidden up her sleeve, I'm pretty sure that's it."

_'Well isn't that nice?' _I inwardly rolled my eyes. I laid back down on the hay and stared up at the barn's rafters. Rex turned away and chewed on a piece of straw, watching Lyric as she slept with a scowl plastered on her face. I closed my eyes and kept them shut, staring at the image of Max that came up behind my eye lids. God, I missed her so much.

_'Now she doesn't have to find me,' _I thought. _'I can go find her. We'll be a flock again!' _A pang of longing stabbed my heart, and I heard Rex shift uncomfortably. I opened my eyes, and he was looking concernedly at me with his light eyes. I looked away and hunched over my knees, clenching my fists tightly. He sighed quietly, spitting the piece of straw out of his mouth.

I heard a small shuffle behind me, followed by a yawn. Claw had woken up, leaning against my shoulders.

"Mornin', Little buddy," Rex said cheerily, his pained face gone and replaced with a broad grin. Claw offered a half-smile before rubbing his eyes and yawning again.

"Where's Xavier?" he asked quietly. Rex responded without hesitation.

"He went to get food and clothes and stuff," he said lightly, his grin never leaving his face. Claw nodded. Our threesome fell silent, and a few minutes passed before Lyric stirred. She woke almost silently, eyes taking in everyone and everything around her before relaxing.

"Xay went off somewhere?" she mumbled sleepily. Rex nodded. "Be back soon?" Another nod. Their communication apparently didn't require complete sentences for the other to understand, and I was okay with that.

I gazed around the group, realizing the only one still asleep was Shade. I reached over to wake him, but Rex grabbed my arm hurriedly. I glared at him, not very fond of being touched. I saw the panic in his eyes as he fumbled for an excuse, despite the fact that his face remained calm.

"Let him sleep," he said easily. "He needs to rest off the weariness of yesterday." I gave him a suspicious glance but said nothing. I knew he knew that I didn't trust him. He was an empath, after all.

I tuned out the clones' meaningless morning conversations, listening instead to the movement of livestock in the level just below us.

I hoped that Xavier wouldn't be long bringing the supplies. I really wasn't much of a people person.

* * *

**Fang's Pov**

I heard a thud on the ground outside, followed by snow crunching under heavy boots. The large barn door creaked open, and Xavier scuttled inside like a sand crab.

He scrabbled up to the loft, tossing down several bags. He sifted through one, pulling out a black shirt with an owl listening to an Ipod on it and tossed it to me, along with a pair of dark, thick jeans, black boxers, a black zip-up hoodie, and black combat boots. A pair of black socks hit me on the head, and I mumbled a thanks. I pulled on my clothes as he passed out clothes to the others, kicking Shade awake.

I rifled through a sack containing food while the others dressed, pulling out a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. I glanced over at Xavier and raised an eyebrow.

"Is this considered cannibalism?" I asked quietly, and he laughed merrily, earning a tight grin from me as I pulled out a leg and tore into it.

Rex reached over and pulled out a thigh, clad in lighter jeans, a green shirt, a white hoodie with some sort of tan design crawling up one arm, and brown boots.

Claw followed, dressed similarly to me, though he wore a grey hoodie instead of black and had a grey beanie on. They both made quick of their meal, reaching for another piece before I was even done with mine.

Lyric soon appeared from behind a larger stack of hay, clad in a black shirt and a red hoodie with blue jeans and black converse, and reached into the sack. She found mashed potatoes and claimed them as hers, dumping the gravy into the Styrofoam cup and shoveling large spoonfuls into her mouth. I stared at her for a second, and she gave me a "What?" look. I shrugged and reached for another piece of chicken at the same time Shade did. Our skin brushed, and I collapsed into spasms, clutching my hand to my chest. From the sounds of it, so did Shade. I heard shouting, and I made out, "I told you not to let them touch each other!" I felt something in my mind connect, and it was as if a missing piece of me was just found and clicked into place.

I don't know how long the pain lasted as it surged all through my body, but I opened my eyes and rubbed my head. Xavier was slamming his fist against his forehead, and the others, minus Shade, were staring at Shade and I concernedly.

"What was that?" we groaned at the same time. Xavier looked up at me, his eyes tired and somehow older.

"Remember how I told you that none of the clones the whitecoats made came out right?" he asked me. I nodded vaguely. He pointed at Shade. "He looks pretty right to you, doesn't he?" I glanced at Shade, observing how all of the details between us were completely correct. I nodded again. "What does that tell you." I stopped breathing.

I somehow managed to whisper, "He's not a clone?" Xavier shook his head. Shade stared at Xavier, obviously panicking as well.

"Well then, what am I?" he asked shakily. Xavier looked at us both carefully.

"Fang," he said to me, gently gesturing to Shade, "meet your twin brother."

Let's just say I was floored, to say the least.

* * *

**(A/N: Well, I bet you weren't expecting THAT!! XD**

**(Honestly, if you were, tell me. I'll work harder on my stealth.)**

**Well, I enjoyed this chapter, so read, review, and have cookies.**

**By the way, I entered a pie-eating contest today. Let's just say that hair REALLY get in the way when you're trying to eat pie with your face. Especially when you have it up your nose. I swear I was suffocating, but there was no mistaking the look of pride on my face when we finished. (I was the only girl that entered.)**

**Lots of love!**

**--_Crater_**


	11. Explaination

**A/N: Thanks for all your reviews, guys! I'm sorry I haven't been updating. I've hit a slump in my Fax tank, and I think I need to work on this story a little more. For those of you who haven't checked out "Graveside," go ahead. I need to update it soon, too.**

**Oh. As for the spasm thingy, there was a bond that hadn't connected, and as soon at they made physical contact, a sort of spark shot into both of their nervous systems. Kind of like when you touch someone and it shocks you, only bigger and more painful.**

**So, thanks for sticking with me through all of this. I'm sure all of you go through a slump when you write as well. Enjoy the next chapter of "Torturing Fang!"**

**Torturing Fang: Chapter Ten**

**Explaination**

**Fang's Pov**

If I hadn't been sitting down already, I would've literally fallen down at the news I received from Xavier.

"Twins?" I said, unable to minimize my shock. I glanced at Shade, who was staring at his hands as if he had never seen them before.

"I'm a real person, then," he said, looking at Xavier for a hint of reassurance. The blond nodded, rocking back on his heels.

"You are your own individual," he said, and Shade gave the closest thing to a smile that I had ever seen him give. I turned to the others who didn't look very surprised.

"You guys knew, didn't you?" I said darkly, staring at them. Rex turned red when he felt my anger seething through the air, and he shrank back considerably. Lyric met my gaze challengingly.

"You didn't need to know," she said calmly, staring at me with a chilling glaze over her eyes.

"Enough, guys," Xavier said, intervening before things got violent.

Rex was beginning to shift uncomfortably at the bad vibes we were giving off, and I forced myself calmer and curled my arms around my abdomen in a self-comforting way. I really wanted to find Max; nothing this big should happen without Max.

Rex continued to fidget; apparently, he wasn't used to being around someone like me.

Shade glanced uneasily between everyone, reaching carefully for the piece of chicken that he had yet to eat. I didn't blame him; that thing hurt! As a matter of fact, I had no clue what had happened.

"Xavier?" I said grumpily, not liking to talk more than necessary, which I'd been doing a lot of lately.

"Mm?" he mumbled, leaning back and letting his head sink into the hay.

"Why did it hurt?" I asked, well aware that I was being vague. If he knew what I was talking about without asking questions, he was either very smart or still trying to keep things from me. And considering the fact that he'd specifically ordered Rex to keep Shade and I apart, I was already leaning towards the "keeping things from me" thought.

I saw a frown cross his face, even from the position he was in. He was thinking.

"To be honest, I'm not sure why it did what it did. It's strange." The jerk was trying to lie to me again.

"You liar," I stated bluntly, clenching my fists. "You know exactly why that happened to us." I jerked a thumb to my clones. "I'd bet a pretty penny _they_ know, too, am I right?" Xavier sat up and glared at me. I was making him angry, and it felt good.

"You don't have a clue what you're talking about, Fang," he said. "Yeah, I do have a pretty good idea of what happened to you, but I'm not one hundred percent sure, alright? Look. You two were supposed to have a bond. You were meant to be close; the whitecoats prevented that from happening. From the time you two were born, neither of you had any contact with the other until now. Think of it as static electricity that's had years to build up. Then you made physical contact. It formed that bond that's been missing your entire life in on big shock." I was still glaring at Xavier, and Shade was staring at him with enormous eyes. Xavier had calmed down a bit and was pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm not completely sure about all of that, though. I just pieced together all of the information I gathered from the whitecoats. It might not all be completely valid. Don't hold that against me." With that, Xavier fell back and sighed, closing himself off.

Maybe he was telling the truth, but there was no way for me to know that for sure.

* * *

**I know it's short, but I have no inspiration for this story... :( -sigh...- Anywho. I thought you guys whould like something, and this is as much as I could force. -shrug- Oh, well...**


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